Superior Prairie Dogs

If you've been following along for a while you'll know that I'm a big fan of scavenger hunts, especially when it involves public art. So when I learned about the painted prairie dog sculptures dotted around nearby Superior last year, I knew it was definitely something I needed to check out with the kids.

Like the hearts in San Francisco, and the bears in Boulder's Chautauqua Park, these prairie dog sculptures feature colorful designs by local artists and add a touch of whimsy to the area. 

The prairie dogs are all located within the town of Superior and can easily be found in just a few hours, but we spread our search out over quite a few months, finding one or two prairie dogs here and there while out. We've finally found them all, so today I'm sharing them here with you. If you're following along on Instagram you're likely seen a few of them over there already. If you're not following along on Instagram, click here to follow. I'm a little better at staying up to date over there!

So, without further ado, here are all the Superior prairie dogs. I've listed them in the same order they appear on the map, which you can download here.

Shaving Cream Easter Eggs

One last Easter post before the season is over...

Did you dye Easter eggs this year? We usually go with the traditional dipping eggs into dye technique, but this year we decided to try something different that I had seen online. This year we colored our eggs with shaving cream!

Ok, so the shaving cream itself didn't color the eggs itself, but it did work as a handy carrier for the food coloring that we used. And it was fun to use! 

Now, I will be the first to admit that our eggs didn't come out quite as expected, but it was still such a fun activity that I wanted to share it here with you anyway. When it comes to art and creativity, sometimes the process is just as important as the outcome, and that's especially true when the process is fun! This sure was a fun, and rather messy, process! The messy processes are always the best ones, right? 

The girls had a blast decorating their eggs, and while I'm sure they would've loved to have seen the marbled patterns from the shaving cream appear exactly the same on their eggs, they were still perfectly happy with how they turned out. I've since learned a few tips and tricks that we'll try out next time, so expect to see us getting messy with shaving cream and food dye again next Easter!

Ok, let's take a look at how to make shaving cream eggs...

Easter 2021

Easter is done for another year. Did you celebrate over the weekend?

This year's Easter was quite different from last year's Easter in one major way. Nope - nothing covid related. This year we had a beautiful, warm and sunny Spring day. Last year we had a snowy Easter. While I was happy for the good weather, I've got to say that I actually really liked our white Easter last year. 

Anyway, the warm weather meant that we could do more of our regular Easter activities outside. We decorated eggs outside, had our egg hunt outside, and smashed cascarones (confetti eggs) on the trampoline. 

Let's take a look...

Easter Peeps Bunny Wreath DIY

It's almost Easter!

How did that sneak up so quickly? Are you ready for it?

If decorating is on your list of things to do I've got a quick and easy DIY for you today. It's an Easter wreath made out of Peeps bunnies. But you probably guessed that from the title of this post and the pics, right?

Now, I've got to say that I'm not much of a Peeps fan when it comes to eating them (they're far too sugary for even this sweet tooth) but I do think that the bunny shaped Peeps are super adorable. I mean, just look at them! Aren't they cute? So, because they're cute but I don't like eating them I like to get crafty with them! In the past I've made Peeps bunting for both Easter and Halloween (you can see them here and here) and I've made Peeps Pikachu pops for Pokemon themed birthday parties (which you can see here). Ok, that last one was for eating. 

Today I'm adding to my Peeps crafting repertoire with a wreath. It's super easy, uses only a few materials and it takes no time at all to make. I knocked mine up in maybe half an hour, and that was including taking photos for this post. 

Cherry Blossom Season in Hakone Gardens

If you live somewhere where Spring is in full effect (ie. not Colorado!) it's cherry blossom season!

When we lived in California one of my favorite annual events was Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco's Japantown. We'd go along every year to take in all the Japanese culture, the delicious food, the parade, and of course, the beautiful cherry blossoms. You can see some of our visits to Cherry Blossom Festival here, here and here. This year's Cherry Blossom Festival will be virtual (which means you can attend from anywhere!) but if you're in the Bay Area and keen to check out some cherry blossoms and a little Japanese culture in person I highly recommend visiting Hakone Gardens in Saratoga.

We visited Hakone Gardens a few months before we made the move to Colorado and I've been meaning to share our visit here ever since. It's such a beautiful place, especially in Spring when the many trees and shrubs are in bloom. Of course, Spring is the most popular time to visit, so it was rather crowded the day that we went. In fact, the staff told us that it had been their busiest day to date! Normally when we visit somewhere busy I like to take a little extra time with my photos to try and capture less people in them. This was pretty much impossible the day we visited Hakone Gardens, so expect to see lots of people in my pics. This was pre-covid, of course, so the crowds will likely be a little smaller now due to the fact that advance bookings are required to ensure social distancing.  

Let's take a look at our visit...

6 Things To Do in Salem, Massachusetts

Do you listen to podcasts?

Lately I've been listening to a really interesting podcast called Witches of Scotland. This podcast discusses the (mostly) women who were accused, tortured and often executed under the Scottish Witchcraft Act of 1563. From 1563 though to 1736 almost 4,000 people were accused and tried as witches. Of those, over 2,500 (that we know of) were found guilty, executed by strangulation, and their bodies burned to deny them a proper burial. The podcast discusses the cases where information was recorded, and brings to light the fact that these people were just every day people. The hosts do a great job of humanizing the victims of the Witchcraft Act. The driving force behind the podcast is a call to the Scottish parliament for an official apology, a pardon for those found guilty, and a national memorial honoring those treated so unfairly under this cruel act.

All this talk of witchcraft and memorials has had me thinking about our visit to Salem, Massachusetts back in the Summer of 2018. It's one of those trips I've been meaning to share here for such a long time - but you know me. Always behind! Anyway, today I'm sharing my favorite things to do and see in Salem. It's cute little city with so much interesting history, the most well known, of course, being the Salem witch trials. 

Here are my favorite things to see and do in Salem...

Snowmageddon

So far this Winter the weather has been pretty mild here in Colorado. We had a super cold snap back in February with temperatures down to -25C (-13F) and our windows icing up on the inside, but apart from that Winter hasn't really felt like Winter for the most part. Not much in the way of snow, not many chilly days...

Well, the snow made up for it this past weekend when we were hit by a snowstorm! 

I'm not actually sure how much snow we got as I've heard a lot of different measurements, but it was a lot. Maybe 2 feet? Maybe 3 feet? I don't really know, but I do know that it was the fourth heaviest snow in Denver history. We're not in Denver though and I think they got more than us. 

Anyway, this post has absolutely no information or anything that readers may find useful, but I took lots of fun photos that I wanted to share somewhere, so here they are. A totally gratuitous post that's just for me! But hey, if you can't share things that make you happy on your own blog, then what's the point of having one, right?